PENTAX Announces Limited Edition Kit for the 645D

In honor of the PENTAX 645D being named "Camera of the Year" at Camera Grand Prix Japan 2011, PENTAX has announced a limited edition kit model of the camera that will have a custom red and black lacquer-finished body and golden PENTAX logos. The entire kit will be housed in a specially designed paulownia-wood box and include:

PENTAX 645D Japan camera body

a Camera GP 2011 Camera of the Year Leather Strap (O-ST123)

a Body Mount Cap for the 645D Japan

a Center-Spot-Matte Focusing Screen (DS-80)

Like its regular edition sibling, the Limited Edition PENTAX 645D is what PENTAX calls a medium-format digital camera. It delivers a 40-megapixel (that's not a typo) ultra-high resolution images courtesy of its 44x33mm CCD. JPEG and RAW (14 bit) files come out to a whopping 7264 x 5440 pixels. Fully weather sealed and cold proof, the aluminum diecast chassis is surrounded by magnesium-alloy. Autofocus comes courtesy of an 11-point SAFOX IX+ system. It also features continuous shooting at 1.1 frames per second at that full 40-megapixel resolution and a high-capacity Li-Ion battery good for up to 800 shots (in typical shooting conditions).

How do you get one?

The Limited Edition PENTAX 645Ds will be be built-to-order only, so the only way to purchase one is to head over there to the PENTAX store, pre-order it, wait four months, and then enjoy. As of this writing, the regular 645D retails for just under $10,000, so expect to pay a Limited Edition premium over that when pre-ordering.

Here's a few more images of the Limited Edition camera and included accessories: